'Till the World Ends: Dawn of Eden 0.5, Thistle & Thorne, and Sun Storms, by Julie Kagawa, Ann Aguirre, and Karen Duvall.

Title: 'Till the World Ends
Author: Julie Kagawa
Series: n/a
Book #: 1
Pages: 368
Reading Level: YA*
Book Rating: *
Goodreads Rating: 4.05
T.B.Published: Jan. 29th, 2013
*With some adult content
*Stories have different ratings

Dawn of Eden by Julie Kagawa

Before The Immortal Rules, there was the Red Lung, a relentless virus determined to take out all in its path. For Kylie, the miracle of her survival is also her burden—as a doctor at one of the clinics for the infected, she is forced to witness endless suffering. What’s worse, strange things are happening to the remains of the dead, and by the time she befriends Ben Archer, she’s beginning to wonder if a global pandemic is the least of her problems...

Thistle & Thorne by Ann Aguirre

After a catastrophic spill turns the country into a vast chemical wasteland, those who could afford it retreated to fortresses, self-contained communities run by powerful corporations. But for Mari Thistle, life on the outside—in the Red Zone—is a constant struggle. To protect her family, Mari teams up with the mysterious Thorne Goodman. Together, they’ll face an evil plot in both the underworld of the Red Zone and the society inside the fortresses that could destroy those on the outside... for good.

Sun Storm by Karen Duvall

Sarah Daggot has been chasing storms since she was a child. But after the biggest solar flares in history nearly destroy the planet, she becomes a Kinetic, endowed by her exposure to extreme radiation with the power to sense coming storms—in the cosmos and beyond. And she’s not the only one. Sarah believes the Kinetics are destined to join forces and halt the final onslaught of the sun. She’ll vow to keep trying to convince the one missing link in their chain of defense, the enigmatic Ian Matthews, up until the world ends.

Taschima's POV:

I never read anthologies, or short stories for that matter. Unless they have something to do with a bigger series. That's why I couldn't wait for 'Til The World Ends to come out, because it had a short prequel story on The Immortal Rules. Dawn of Eden might have been what pulled me in but the rest of the stories made me stick around. If I were to review each story in a paragraph or less this is what it would look like:

Dawn of Eden by Julie Kagawa 4/5

Was just right. It is simply a brilliant move by the author, and completely not what I was expecting. In it Julie Kagawa introduces us to a whole new facet of The Immortal Rules world, and I am not just talking about the world before the vampires took over. In it we get to see the story through an adult's eyes. The Immortal Rules is a strictly YA series, with some adults in it sure but the main character is a young recently turned vampire. So the change in MC was able to both change our perspective and build upon was already there by inserting a completely new voice into this infected world. If I were to give a rating to Dawn of Eden I'd give it a 4/5. It was interesting, and entertaining, but with the new spin come some downfalls. Because though I do encourage, and applaud, the change in MC I think some people may not take a liking to the new girl. At least to me the new female character wasn't as engaging as Allison is. On the other hand the ending left me unsatisfied. I have no idea what happens to the characters, and though the ending promises good things I can only expect the bad. There are uncontrollable vampires around, not to mention rabids!! For the setting of this novel expect something like The Walking Dead (first season), only the zombies are rabids and they are faster and stronger, hence deadlier. So the Walking Dead meets 28 Days Later.

Beware: Some sexy scenes, as in actual sex, lurk between these pages so I advise you to proceed with caution when it comes to Blood of Eden. These two adults definitely get it on.

Thistle & Thorne by Ann Aguirre 5/5

If I had to describe this story in one word I would have to go with: Fan-fucking-tastic! It was by far my favorite one of the entire book!

Here I was about to call it a day after I finished Dawn of Eden when I said to myself: "Self, you should probably give the other two stories a shot". I am very glad I give such advice because I am forever a fan of Ann Aguirre now. Actually, after reading her story I went on Goodreads, looked for everything else she has written and promptly friend requested her (still waiting on a response but here's to hoping). I am really, really hoping Thirstle & Thorne has a sequel, because their story is too good to pass on. The world built is one were the gap between the rich and the poor is so big they might as well live in two different worlds. The rich live inside this wall enclosed bubble were they don't have to worry about basic things like food, shelter, or medicine, while on the other side of the fence everybody is fucked. They have to resolve to steal from each other to continue living, and their shit hole is ran by a crazed crime lord. Mari, our main girl, is from the bad part of town. She, as well as her family before her, is an expert thief. This is what gets her in trouble in the end, she fails to steal something and that gets the ball rolling. You might think this story might potentially have some romance involved in it, but it doesn't. Everything between Mari and Thorne is exclusively business. That is, for now I think. Thorne is not your average guy. He is a thug, he is a criminal of sorts (not to say he is all bad but he makes sure you don't grow fantasies about his character), and he wants to dethrone the crazy lord. For that to happen though he is going to need Mari's help, and what comes after that is a whole lot of trouble and a world of fun.

I know I said I would review it in one paragraph but this story is so good it needs a little more so bear with me. The reason the world is so fucked in this story is due to chemical spills and things like that. Which is credible, but there is a lot of back story that is missing. Again, understandable because this is but a short story and it doesn't have enough pages to give us a history lesson. What it does do is entertain the hell out of you and keep you at the edge of your seat, sort of like Dawn of Eden does. It is smart, it is good, and I cannot wait for something to come out of it.

Sun Storm by Karen Duvall 2/5

This was by far my least favorite story. It was just hard to get through, and even harder to swallow. The world has been screwed by the sun; it hit us with it's fiery whip and we were doomed. Ever since these "sun storms" happen every often and if they manage to touch you then you are screwed because you die a horrible painful death. That is unless you are magically elected to have super awesome powers... oooookay. I had problems with the main character (annoying), the circumstances of the dystopian world, the pace, the problems faced, the romance, the fantastical ending... Let's just say this one wasn't for me. The romance was rushed and suffers from, dare I say it, insta love.

UGH, they were JUST meant for each other. And I get it that in a dystopian world you might want to speed the process along, but really, why are these two together? I think it's just because of their kynetic powers but that's just me. I have the hots for you, literally, you have the hots for me, want to fall in love in like a day and save the world?! Aaam, no thanks lady and get the hell away from me?

Overall it was a 2/3 and I would gladly recommend it not only because of Julie Kagawa's great story but the other ones had a lot to offer as well (at least T&T did, and ST might for you).